The former goalkeeper announced it at the La Unión-El Progreso forum in his homeland, Galicia. He puts an end to a 25-year career in goal
Diego López has decided to hang up his gloves after more than 20 years dedicating himself to being a goalkeeper. He announced it yesterday at the La Unión-El Progreso forum, in Galicia, his homeland. His last team was Rayo Vallecano, with which he ended his contract on June 30. From then on, he was without a team until he officially put an end to his long career. In the most immediate future he plans to remain linked to football as a coach.
He was born in Paradela, Lugo, on November 3, 42 years ago. He debuted with ‘his’ Lugo in 1998, in what would be his first team for many of him, and where he would begin to forge that goalkeeper who would become one of the best of his generation. Real Madrid noticed a young Diego, only 18 years old, and signed him for Real Madrid C, which played in the Third Division at that time. He was loaned to Alcorcón in 2001 and returned again to Valdebebas. He established himself as a starter in Castilla, achieving promotion to the Second Division, which helped him to be called up to the first team.
In the 2005/2006 season he managed to find a place as Iker Casillas’ substitute in the first team. He debuted in the First Division in an official match on April 30, 2006 against Osasuna. However, he had already made his debut in the Champions League against Olimpiacos, in the group stage, on December 6, 2005. In 2006/2007 his role was similar and he decided to go to Villarreal, since Casillas was immovable in That moment. In the yellow submarine he established himself as a starter and showed what a great goalkeeper he was. In fact, his level was rewarded by being called up by the Spanish National Team. In the 2011/2012 season, Villarreal was relegated and the Galician went to Sevilla. In the Seville team he was a substitute for Andrés Palop, which deprived him of minutes.
Casillas’ ιnjury, the turning point in Diego López’s career
On January 24, 2013, Iker Casillas fractured his left hand after a fortuitous k𝔦ck from his teammate Álvaro Arbeloa when the Mostoleño goalkeeper was trying to clear a ball inside the area. This event caused Real Madrid, coached by José Mourinho at that time, to decide to sign a reliable goalkeeper to replace Casillas until his return. The chosen one was Diego López, who would become, against all odds, the white club’s starting goalkeeper, even with Casillas already recovered. Mourinho preferred to count on the Galician with some statements that went down in history: “I like Diego López more as a goalkeeper than Iker Casillas. He is simple.”
The Galician goalkeeper agreed with the Portuguese coach and performed at an excellent level. This meant that, in the following season, after Mourinho’s departure, the new coach, Carlo Ancelotti, had him as a starter in LaLiga, with Casillas competing in the Champions League and LaLiga. On August 13, 2014, his signing for Milan was made official, the second most successful team in the history of the Champions League, only behind Madrid. At 32 years old, Diego López had already been a player for both clubs. In August 2016 he was loaned to Espanyol, a club that retained him free the following year, and where he became a legend.
The man from Lugo spent 6 seasons at Cornellá, playing a total of 213 games, keeping a clean sheet in 69 of them and becoming captain of the team. On June 9, 2022, Espanyol decided not to renew him and he left through the back door, something that surprised Diego López himself. Last season he played for Rayo Vallecano, although he only played 5 games between the league and the cup.
He retires one of the best Spanish goalkeepers of this century. He played 569 times in professional football, competed for the position of an Iker Casillas and became a legend of Spanish football. Now, from the bench, he will try to be at least as good as he was with the gloves. Thanks Diego.
Diego López announces that he is hαnging up his gloves at the age of 42
The Galician exporter played more than two hundred matches with Espanyol between 2016 and 2022
Diego López, better known as the man who made Iker Casillas sit, leaves football. The former player had been without a club for several months after his last experience at Rayo Vallecano, last season, where he played a total of five games.
At the age of 42, Diego López has put an end to a career of almost two decades in the elite in which he has played for teams such as Milan, Sevilla, Villarreal and Espanyol. With the white-and-blue team he played a total of 213 games between 2016 and 2022 before leaving for Vallecas. In Cornellà, he has admitted, it is where he has felt “most recognized”.
But Diego López will be remembered, above all, for taking the place of Iker Casillas when he was a Real Madrid player. The Galician became one of José Mourinho’s trusted me𝚗, who put a cross on Casillas after accusing him of being the “mole in the dressing room”. Since then, Casillas did not start again and Diego López gained prominence to the detriment of his Madrid teammate.